The EDI 856 transaction is more commonly called an EDI Advance Ship Notice, also referred to by EDI ASN. This EDI transaction code is used to electronically communicate shipment contents to another trading partner. This code would be sent in advance of a shipment arriving at the a trading partner’s facility.

The 856 ship manifest transaction is mainly used in the retail industry, manufacturing and automotive industries, usually in response to transactions that include EDI 850, EDI 830, or EDI 862. While contents of a shipment are outlined, the EDI 856 transaction also includes order information, product descriptions, packaging types, carrier details and others.

An EDI ASN can include information on a few different things, which would include;

  • Shipment Level Details – Like Tracking Numbers and Carrier Details
  • Order Level Details – Like Purchase Order Numbers
  • Item Level Details – Such as Items and Quantities
  • Pack Level Details – Such as Printed Barcodes

The EDI 856 may be the most complicated document to implement for suppliers. Each trading partner can have very different requirements, which puts the burden on the supplier to support many different formats. The EDI ASN also becomes a data collection issue because of the volume of data points that must be captured and transmitted back to the trading partner. For example, each carton in a shipment may be assigned a unique barcode identifier that must be transmitted back to the trading partner.

EDI 856 Format

ISA*01*0000000000*01*0000000000*ZZ*ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO*ZZ*123456789012345*101127*1719*U*00400*000003438*0*P*>
GS*SH*4405197800*999999999*20111206*1045*49*X*004060
ST*856*0008
BSN*14*829716*20111206*142428*0002
HL*1**S
TD1*PCS*2****A3*60.310*LB
TD5**2*XXXX**XXXX
REF*BM*999999-001
REF*CN*5787970539
DTM*011*20111206
N1*SH*1 EDI SOURCE
N3*31875 SOLON RD
N4*SOLON*OH*44139
N1*OB*XYZ RETAIL
N3*P O BOX 9999999
N4*ATLANTA*GA*31139-0020**SN*9999
N1*SF*1 EDI SOURCE

EDI 856 Specification

This is a X12 transaction set, which contains the format and establishes the data contents of the Ship Manifest/Notice Transaction Set (856) for use within the context of an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) environment.

EDI 856 can be used to list a number of different things, which may include;

  • Contents of the Shipment
  • Details relating to the Shipment
  • Product Descriptions
  • Order Details
  • Packaging Types
  • Carrier Information
  • Specific Physical Characteristics

The transaction set allows the sender to define contents and the configuration of a shipment in a number of different levels of detail and gives you ordered flexibility to convey information. The sender of this transaction would be responsible for detailing and communicating the contents of a single shipment, or multiple shipments, to one or more receivers of the transaction set. The receiver can be any organization with an interest in the contents of a shipment or information about the contents of a shipment.